The Dragon King: Not So Ordinary: Ethereal Foes, Book 4

by Marie Harte

  “Watch your step, dragon,” Asael bit out. “I can wipe your kind from the face of the planet on a whim. Don’t think I won’t if the mood strikes.”

  Jentaron smiled, flashing fangs. “You could try.”

  Asael tried to impose his will, a rush of darkness and light merging to dig deep into Jentaron’s psyche. But the king of dragons hadn’t been idly boasting. Just because he’d never been forced to display all of his power didn’t mean he didn’t have it.

  He remained steadfast, a rock of might that wouldn’t crack, even against the mightiest storm. Something those coming would find immovable. A necessity to withstand such chaos.

  Asael pulled back his energy after a moment and approached him, showing no sign that he was bothered at having lost their battle of wills. “You are just full of surprises, aren’t you?”

  “You would do well to see to your followers,” Jentaron answered. “That’s why I’ve come. To warn you about the spread of chaos that’s begun. It’s in all the realms now, and the threat of the creepazoids grows closer.”

  Ella clutched his hand, digging with her tiny human nails.

  Asael frowned. “The what?”

  “That’s what Ella calls them. They know she is important to me, so they’ve made her a target.”

  Zelec shouted telepathically at him, “What?” He peeked through his wings before easing them behind him.

  Jentaron noticed the cuts and abrasions over the front of Zelec’s body had already vanished. A handy talent, that healing. And something they’d put to full use soon enough, no doubt.

  Pleased his future mate could regenerate so quickly, Jentaron pushed forward with his demands. “Zelec is also at risk, for he too will become part of my defenses. Without me shielding us all, the rest of you will falter, then cease to exist. You know this.”

  “You do,” a disembodied, deep voice agreed. Kingu appeared as liquid flame through the cracks in the rock floor to coalesce into a living being of fire before becoming a carbon copy of Zelec.

  “Okay, that’s freaky,” Ella whispered, still plastered against Jentaron.

  For it being her first time around ethereal beings, she was holding up far better than he expected. “Stay strong,” he said, and kissed the top of her head. “Kingu. It’s about time you joined us.”

  The deity—neither a he nor she—laughed. “Such spirit in one so young, eh, Lord of the Abyss?”

  “Yes, he’s a real ball of fire,” Asael deadpanned. “Now what’s this about him claiming my demon? Zelec is mine.”

  “Yes, he is, isn’t he?”

  Jentaron didn’t understand the sly undertone in Kingu’s voice.

  Asael glared at Kingu. “Well, fuck.”

  Hearing Asael curse took him aback. For all that the imposing male was Fallen and now a demon lord, Asael had once been an angel and still looked the part. Hearing such foulness again brought home the fact that Asael existed to balance the light above.

  “Don’t be too full of yourself,” Zelec sent, as if hearing his thoughts. “Asael is a power unto himself. Beware his agreement on anything. He lays Byzantium traps that will only unfold years later, when it’s too late to get out of them.”

  “True, Zelec. Heed him well, Jentaron,” Kingu said. So much for private communication. “Asael is not as weak as you might think.”

  “Weak?” Asael puffed up, and his wings flared. Dark intent spread throughout the chamber. “You think me weak, lizard?”

  Jentaron glared at Kingu. “You had to rile him up. For what purpose? We need to discuss what to do about what’s coming, and I need Zelec and Ella with me to do what needs to be done. You’re the one that told me that in the first place.” He snorted. “I know the difference between a dreamwalk and a mere dream, Kingu.”

  “Ah, I had wondered.” The creator chortled and came toward Asael, leaving burning steps in its wake. “Give him our son and be done with it, angel. We have work to do.”

  Jentaron blinked, never having considered that scenario. He saw that Zelec didn’t understand, but Ella, surprisingly, did.

  “Zelec is their child?” She turned to Zelec. “I thought your mom was a succubus.”

  Zelec frowned. “What are you talking about?” He flapped his wings, clearly agitated. “Lies. Clever falsehoods designed to distract us.”

  But from what, Zelec? Jentaron wanted to add but didn’t.

  Asael glared at Kingu, the Fallen one of the few creatures alive who would take on such an ancient deity. “There was no need to make that common knowledge.”

  “Wait. What?” Zelec shook off the shackles at his feet, opening the locks with telekinetic ease. Then he approached the dynamic pair of higher beings by Asael’s throne.

  Watching the three of them together, Jentaron saw much more than the surface. No wonder Zelec had so many talents, so much inner fire. He was a child of darkness and light and creation.

  Jentaron had talented mates. Zelec—of a demon and an angel and whatever the hell Kingu was. And Ella—daughter of an angel and a human with demon blood in her past. Together with Jentaron, a dragon of the purest lineage, they tied all the realms together.

  Angel, demon, human and dragon. Four become one.

  The puzzle seemed to click into place. Jentaron nodded. “I must have them both. This, Kingu knows, as do you.” He saw the knowledge appear in the demon lord’s dark gaze. A reluctant acknowledgement that had to be accepted.

  “Fine. Just…keep this quiet.” Asael dimmed his glow and approached Zelec. “I did not know of your connection to me until a few years ago, Zelec. But I am not displeased.”

  Zelec stood taller. He gave Asael a nod.

  “That’s it?” Ella had the nerve to speak out. “You just had him flogged! How about an apology, Dad?” The sneer in her tone caused Kingu to laugh and Zelec to look worriedly at Asael. Asael stared at her with interest.

  Jentaron stepped between her and the Fallen, keeping her hidden behind him, back between his wings.

  Asael retaliated—with a sigh. “Such a lack of deportment around her betters. You’d best go with them, Zelec. They have great need of your experience and talent.”

  Zelec bowed. “Of course, sire.”

  He joined Jentaron, not close enough to touch, but close enough to give Jentaron hope they wouldn’t have too far to go to cement their three-way bonding.

  “Finally.” Kingu snapped its fingers, and representatives from the other races, as well as a few angels, appeared.

  Apparently the meeting Jentaron had intended to have later would happen now.

  Jentaron took note of Myfere, chieftain of the havoc, Felhyx, king of the blood elves, Uriel, an asshole of epic proportions and an archangel of great power, a few of his angels, various dukes of hell, and—a guest of great renown—Lucifer, the highest of all the Fallen.

  Ella had peeked over his wing, but at Lucifer’s arrival, she gasped and tucked away. Lucifer had such power and overwhelming allure that Jentaron understood her need to hide. Everyone, Kingu included, gave Lucifer a nod of respect.

  Even more beautiful than Asael, Lucifer embodied the meaning of his name. The Shining One. Morning Star. He radiated an inner purity, a bright beacon of light, which made his Fall all the more tragic, since of all the angels, he’d been reported to be His favorite.

  Golden-haired, blue-eyed, with caramel colored skin and dressed in a black suit, he was the epitome of temptation.

  A grin at Jentaron told him his thoughts had been overheard and accepted as the compliment he’d intended.

  “Lucifer.” Uriel sounded delighted.

  Shocking, since they were supposedly bitter enemies.

  “Uriel, good to see you.” Lucifer and Uriel exchanged a hug that took everyone aback.

  Then Uriel pulled away and sneered at the others. “Why was I called here? I have important duties t
o attend to.” The angels with him nodded and looked at the others with their noses in the air. Uppity bastards.

  “Important duties like waging a war on the lower realm?” Asael said wryly.

  “Like trying to stop it, more like,” Uriel snapped. “Many of my angels have been possessed, and if you value your realm, you’d do more to keep your demons in line.” He glanced at Kingu and swore. “Perfect. You’re here.”

  Kingu grinned, and that resemblance to Zelec faded to become a mirror image of Uriel instead. One had been bad enough. Two made it difficult not to want to leave immediately. Jentaron didn’t begrudge the angels their existence. He actually liked some of them who, despite their glaring decency, appreciated a good joke. But Uriel had always been heaven-bent on turning darkness into light, no matter the cost to balance. At least he had the sense to realize a battle with the lower realm would cause more harm than good right now.

  “I called you all because we have a problem,” Kingu announced.

  “We know,” Myfere said calmly, imposing while just standing still. No one understood the havoc. Though Teban had mated a delightful one, Jentaron still didn’t know why they dwelled below. Something about them made him feel as if they’d be better suited to the middle realm, this despite the fact they were much more than human.

  Havoc looked mortal but had more muscle mass, height and incredible strength. Solid foundations that could destroy with ease—so long as they remained connected to the earth.

  King Felhyx sighed, and Jentaron turned his attention to the blood elf.

  Whereas the havoc would be weak in the air, the blood elves had no perceived vulnerabilities. No one knew where they’d come from, but they could blend into any environment so long as they kept to the shadows. They had grace, charm and the ability to scale anything in any environment. And they had souls, making them a new target for those demons and angels involved in Decision. Blood elf souls, which could travel to heaven or hell, put their kind on an equal level of balance with the humans. That they continued to dwell in the Abyss must have thrilled Asael.

  Felhyx glanced at the Fallen, then at Lucifer, and sighed. “Why am I here?”

  “Because a great deal of change is at hand,” Jentaron said before Kingu could. “For eons we have shared the realms, working to keep the balance of everything even. But before your kind existed, before the realms had been divided into two, then three, there was Chaos.”

  Kingu nodded.

  Lucifer frowned. “You are but a babe. How can you know anything?”

  Jentaron forced a smile, more than irritated by such blatant disregard for his status. “I hatched not long ago, but my knowledge comes from within—from all those before me. Can you not see?” He let loose the confines keeping his power in check, exposing more than he’d shown Asael, and let the others feel the immensity of his being.

  Zelec and Ella gasped, drawn into him because they belonged to him, a part of him while still separate. The others took respectful steps back, finally acknowledging his place in the order of things.

  Asael didn’t look pleased, having to acknowledge he’d been outplayed and would never be able to directly manage Jentaron. Then he glanced at Zelec and smirked, no doubt seeing a loophole.

  “And?” Myfere shrugged, not bothered at all. Jentaron fought a grin, impressed with the havoc’s composure despite himself. “What else have you to say about this Chaos?”

  “They call themselves the Hunger,” Kingu said.

  “Because they want what we have. Order, balance, a system of life and growth. They consume these things.” Jentaron stepped with Ella closer to Zelec, needing that connection. Their wings brushed, and he felt calmer, stronger. “They have started crossing into our worlds, bringing with them a need for disorder, which will quickly spiral into nothingness as our realms are devoured. The Hunger,” he said, nodding to Kingu, “want only to conquer and move on to other worlds. If we do not adapt, we will die.”

  “What can we do?” Felhyx asked. “A unified front against a common enemy? Fine. Once they’re gone, we’ll get back to life as usual.”

  “No. Not life as usual.” Asael shook his head. “Is that not so, King Jentaron?”

  “Correct. The time has come to join all our forces.” He paused. “To include the humans.”

  The ethereal glanced at one another. “Are you out of your mind?” Ashka, one of the dukes of hell, asked. “The human are fodder, nothing more.”

  Ella pinched Jentaron’s back, and he swallowed a grin. Even overpowered among the ethereal, his little nephilim wasn’t so terrified that she didn’t object to others maligning her kind.

  “I think you’ll find that the power in so many will turn the tide against the Hunger,” he told them. “Ella, my mate, has already confronted one of their kind. When they come, I will hold them back while the rest of you attack. It is I who will bear the brunt of their invasion. While I distract them, you will tear them apart.”

  “They are only powerful as one,” Kingu stated. “Ella, show them.”

  All eyes turned to Ella, still sheltered in Jentaron’s wings. Zelec stepped closer to her and tugged her by the hand to stand between them.

  “Do the mind thing, like you did with Lauren,” he said in a low voice.

  Jentaron nodded. “This is why the Hunger fear you. Why they will come for you first. Show the others, that we may do what must be done.” Ella would show them, because only with her and Zelec by his side would he be able to fight the Hunger…and live.

  “Uh, I’ll try.” Ella had never consciously manifested a memory without the aid of some kind of device before, but with so many powerful eyes upon her, and Jentaron and Zelec with her, she’d do her best. She still had a difficult time believing any of this to be real. Lucifer? Uriel? Blood elves? And what the heck was that havoc guy? He looked like a giant pro-wrestler on steroids and felt like death on two legs. She shivered, feeling his gaze upon her. Everyone around her was so much more than human, having wings, fangs, or other abilities.

  What did she have? Some parlor trick of the mind. Whoopdeedoo.

  “Ella, do it,” Jentaron encouraged.

  He didn’t sound stressed or panicked, just confident she would perform.

  That belief did more than prick at her already strong attraction to him. Two days, two years, an eternity. He hadn’t been lying when he’d said they were meant to be. She knew it, even if she hadn’t yet accepted what that might mean.

  For the first time, with him and Zelec, she felt…normal.

  Normal around a dragon and demon. I need serious therapy.

  “Okay. Here goes.” She locked on to her memories of the creepazoid—the Hunger—and relayed what she’d seen and experienced.

  She stared at the center of the chamber and watched as a projection of her memories played out. Except there was much more than what she remembered.

  That mishmash of alien, a wolfman and praying mantis appeared, a jumble of images overlaid onto a creature that didn’t belong on Earth. But then it changed, and she saw humans and demons, angels and dragons, blood elves and havoc turning into each other before turning inside-out, blood and entrails and brains mingling with human bodies. Like a horror movie come to life, the internal and external bits of bodies had no boundaries.

  Nor did the power that flared as all the creatures, somehow in one human-looking form, stared back at her.

  “Hello, nephilim. We see you, and we’re coming for you.” A deeper meaning became clear under those words she’d been told. A deeper meaning that now came to light in the vision she projected, as if it had been planted there all along and only now unlocked. “Your world was never meant to be split into realms. That division called to us, and we feel your pain. We would save you from the order of your sad existence, from your tedious displays of discord that never end. No winner, only losing parties weary of strife.

 
“We are peace, and we are death. Your creators know this, and so they keep you in ignorance of what must be. Tell Kingu its future will never come to fruition, because it has heard us and not listened to our Truth. None of you will escape. And especially not you. Abominations make everything cloudy. If everything is joined, the same, nothing is different. You must have chaos to truly live.”

  The thing that had been Lauren and not Lauren glared at her. “We have plans for your kind, for the nephilim, the naillim, all the hybrids the demons count as their own. A great honor and tribute you should consider. You will become our gatekeepers, so that we may enter other worlds and feed.”

  She pulled back from the speech and stared at a vision of herself that wasn’t herself. Behind her eyes she felt nothing, only a desperate need to unravel existence. The empty eye sockets held no soul, no expression, but through the emptiness where her orbs should be, an alien wrongness stared back at her.

  Ella closed the loop, startled she’d initially only seen a small part of what had actually been communicated when she’d encountered Lauren.

  Zelec put a hand on her one shoulder, and Jentaron closed his hand over the other, his nails sharp, changed.

  “Do you now see?” he asked the motley crowd. “Only together can we push them out. But we must have the diversity of all the worlds to do so.”

  Lucifer sighed. “This will create great turmoil for centuries to come. You are suggesting we let the humans know of our existence. It’s taken millennia for us to slip comfortably into myth and legend.”

  “Yes,” Kingu echoed in many voices, looking once again like a person aflame, a creature of fire and power. “But the world was never meant to be divided. You heard the Hunger. Time to come together once more.”

  “Do you expect me to share the lower realm with angels, then?” Asael asked with icy politeness, as if requesting a cup of tea.

  Ella glanced up at her protectors. So much power and beauty in the men.